Boosting Your Holiday Marketing Strategy: Local Listings Optimization

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The holiday countdown has finally begun, and local consumers everywhere are starting to make their lists and check them twice prior to shopping at nearby locations. Before the onslaught of holiday shoppers fill crowded storefronts, savvy shoppers are already making their purchases and keeping an eye out for any pre-rush sales.

More consumers will hurry to local stores to complete their holiday shopping. Will your brand be one of them?

For the next three weeks, we will break down different approaches for ensuring that your brand can meet customers’ demands this holiday. This week, we explore three must-dos to get your online local listings in shape and get your locations found.

Cleanse Location DataThe holidays are a time when consumers stray from their favorite shops in search for the best deals and lowest prices. This presents a huge opportunity for brands to not only top off the year’s revenue goals in Q4, but to also retain holiday shoppers in the years to come.

In order to capitalize on the swarm of holiday shoppers, marketers need to get back to the basics by verifying the accuracy of their location data and updating it appropriately. This is especially important during the holidays, when store hours are likely to stray from the norm. In addition to store hours, location data management should include core name, address and phone number (NAP) information, links to a location’s website or local page and directions to the store, and other relevant information.

Macy’s does a great job of listing all relevant information for their nearest stores when doing a search for “Macy’s hours.”

During the holidays, consumers look to social channels to find product reviews, relevant ads and blowout sales. Failing to find a location’s social profile or finding a poorly maintained profile could deter many consumers from visiting your nearby stores this holiday season. This Toys R Us Yelp page does a great job of not only including NAP data, click-to-directions and a link to the brand homepage, but also listing complete hours and providing additional business information.

Claiming relevant categories or doing keyword research on products can also help your brand be found by consumers who are looking for specific products or features, but do not necessarily have your brand in mind. Ensure that local pages also include direct links to your brand’s site in order to nudge potential consumers along the buyer’s journey. In order to not only be found, but be visited, make sure to claim all relevant local-social pages.

Syndicate Location DataOnce you have verified your location data and claimed your local-social pages, it is critical to distribute that location data to all relevant platforms and local listings. Syndication enables brand visibility across the local ecosystem and helps your brand reputation grow, as you establish a single, authoritative set of location data. Accurate, consistent location data is especially important during the holidays, when your brand stands to either gain or lose a large set of customers based on their experience with your brand.

If a store will be closed in celebration of one holiday and opened later than normal in observance of another, it is important to update this data as necessary so that customers always receive the most accurate and up-to-date information. Poor data quality can cost brands millions of dollars annually, which is especially true during the holidays, when many businesses make a majority of their revenue.

Brandify partners with an increasing network of publishers to provide instant updates to your location data, providing enduring, high-quality location data. With a local presence across the web, you can drive customers to your stores and create positive experiences to keep them coming back.

Learn how to optimize your local listings and strengthen your holiday marketing strategy this year by registering for Brandify’s free webinar with our Director of Product Damian Rollison, 3 Ways to Boost Your Local Marketing Strategy this Holiday Season.